Pariah (2011)

"Pariah" (90 min.) brings the story of Alike (played by Adepero Oduye), a 17 yr. old girl living with her younger sister and her mom and dad. Alike is discovering that she likes girls better than guys. Alike's mom picks up on the fact that Alike is going through a "tomboy" phase, and is urging dad to do something about it. Dad, however, has his own problems (the movie shows a short phone call that one might interpret he has another lady in his world) and besides (as he says) "Alike is always daddy's girl". Needless to say, a lot of tension builds up between mom and dad and Alike. To reveal more from the plot would spoil the pleasure of watching this movie, you'll just have to see how it all plays out.

A lot has been made of the fact that this is a movie about a "black teenage girl coming out". I guess I really don't see at all what the relevance is, if any, of the race or color in this movie. What I saw was an intense family drame, set in contemporary Brooklyn, New York. It's not even so much a "lesbian" movie. I came away impressed by the fact that this is writer-director Dee Rees' debute film, as the movie certainly doesn't feel like the work of a novice.

There are a number of acting performances worth noting, none more so of course than Adepero Oduye in the role of Alike, but also Kim Wayans as Alike's mom and Charles Parnell as Alike's dad. Last but not least, there was plenty of great music featured in the movie (unfortunately the credits went by so quickly I barely had time to register all the music that was featured, although I did notice that Reema Major has 5 or so songs credited). In all, I thought that "Pariah" was well worth it, and I would readily recommend this if you are looking for something good to watch outside the Hollywood commercial mainstream.

Pariah is a powerful first film by an emerging director, Dee Reese, well acted by a wonderful ensemble of actors, and beautifully and evocatively shot by Director of Photography Bradfford Young. Certainly the story is one that is not widely present within contemporary cinematic culture, but the film stands on its own as a powerful piece of work, not merely a sociological footnote. The true brilliance of this movie is the way in which the visual experience wraps itself around the film's narrative. The camera work alone is truly groundbreaking and original, creating a consistently shallow sense of visual space that directs and redirects our attention in ways that allows us to experience the world intimately through the eyes of the young protagonist.

This is a film that should have received a wider screening than it did. That it was critically hailed was well deserved. That it is now available on DVD is truly cause for celebration. Buy this film, and keep your eyes and heart wide open while watching it.

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A nicely written and acted tale of a 17-year-old girl by the name of Alike who goes through the hardships of being a lesbian teen and dealing with her ongoing homelife. As a black lesbian I'm happy to see there is a black film aimed in a serious way on a LGBT-subject without comic relief. Adepero Oduye, an actress I never heard of until this film, challenges her character well in this heartfelt role. Kim Wayans, someone who most of us grew up laughing at thanks to 'In Living Color' also plays the overprotective mother of Alike and also deals with a struggling marriage. Though this is a slow burn movie, the storytelling does a good enough job getting it's point across. I liked it and hoped many will be open in taking a look at Pariah.

Rating 3.5/5

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This movie was so good it had parts of my life in here, helk anyone who is in the lgbtq community knows someone or has been through that type situation. I hope to see more films that show "our" life all the actors did great and I will def be buying the dvd. :)

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This movie has surely captured my soul. It is a miracle of a movie in a way that it highlighted the raw life and struggles of Alike. Immediately it reminded me of the book Dying To Be Straight! in the way that it showed the pain of the main character Alike as she struggles and gripes with the issues of Lesbianism through the eyes of a mother who is super religious. Rarely have I seen such a movie that not only brings to light a complex social issue such as homosexuality, but a movie that goes into the heart of a situation that is rarely spoken of in Black America. The only recent movie that I could compare that deals with the social crisis of Pariah has to be Precious.

There was bad lighting in a few parts of the movie on the production end. But as far as the screen play itself, the screen play was superb, it's surely worth renting or purchasing this movie.

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